"Sino-US trade frictions can be solved with mutual respect" – Ambassador

Company News of Friday, May 24, 2019

Source: GNA

2019-05-24

Chinese Ambbadador to Ghana Shi Ting Wang said Thursday that the Chinese government believes that mutual respect and equality is the best way to resolve economic and trade disputes between China and the United States.

He said the Chinese government was determined to truly resolve trade hostilities through negotiation, as adopting well-established positions would do no good to anyone, but would have a negative impact on the global economy.

He said the Chinese economy was a "big ocean" and "not a small basin" and was able to withstand the pressures of foreign trade, noting that China's gross domestic product (GDP) exceeded 90 trillion RMB (equivalent to US $ 13.8 trillion) in 2018, which represents about 16% of total global GDP.

As a result, China's GDP grew by 6.4% over last year, while the growth rate exceeded expectations, with GDP per capita hovering around US $ 10,000.

Mr. Wang said this when he gave a public lecture at the Confucius Institute of the University of Ghana, Legon, to better understand the economic and trade tensions between China and the states. -United.

The conference was held under the theme "Dust will settle as you go", which has attracted many senior and junior speakers, economists, civil society, students and the public.

The US government imposed tariffs on billions of dollars of Chinese goods in 2018 and Beijing fought back in equal shares.

After months of trade hostilities, the two countries agreed to suspend their new trade tariffs in December last year to allow negotiations, but the United States has imposed more than double tariffs on Chinese products. worth 200 billion US dollars.

The Chinese government also retaliated by raising tariffs on goods from the United States to $ 60 billion. Tariffs could reach 25% and cover a wide range of industrial and consumer products, from handbags to railway equipment.

The Chinese ambbadador acknowledged that imposing tariffs and implementing unilateral measures only harmed the interests of citizens and the business environment of both countries, adding that A strong and stable economic partnership between the two countries was not only important for them, but also for the global economy.

Wang said the trade frictions between China and the United States would end only when the latter ceased to impose unjustified tariffs on Chinese products.

He said he was convinced that the trade frictions between the two countries would not affect China's economic relations with Africa, and elsewhere Ghana, and pledged to promote free and fair trade policies with the rest of the world.

Over the years, the Chinese government has maintained a cordial and satisfactory business cooperation with Africa, as the Chinese shared a common history and principles with Africans and believed that the relationship with Africa had a future better.

The Chinese Ambbadador refuted US claims that he "stole intellectual property," which affected the US's ability to innovate, explaining that China invested nearly RMB 2 trillion each year (equivalent to US $ 307.7 billion) in research and development expenditures.

He added that since China's entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001, Chinese companies had paid intellectual property royalties to foreign rights holders and registered an annual growth of 17%, reaching US $ 28.6 billion in 2017, of which more than $ 7 billion goes to US companies.

"China is the world's second largest producer of scientific articles and the world's leading patent filer. The protection of intellectual property is in the interest of China. China's economic success has never been achieved by stealing from anyone and never will, "said Wang.

Last year, a Chinese delegation visited the United States and held the eleventh round of high-level trade and economic consultations with the United States government to resolve trade hostilities.